California’s population is expected to grow by as many as 10 million people over the next 20 years. How this growth is accommodated is critical to the state’s future economic competitiveness. In 1994, BankAmerica joined with the California Resources Agency, Greenbelt Alliance and the Low Income Housing Fund to sponsor a report entitled Beyond Sprawl: New Patterns of Growth to Fit the New California. The paper describes how uncontrolled urban sprawl affects California’s economy and quality of life. It calls for collaborative efforts by all sectors of society to work on ways of lowering sprawl’s adverse social, economic and environmental impacts while encouraging strong economic growth.
The paper states that such efforts should be guided by four goals:
- Provide more certainty in determining where new development should and should not occur.
- Make more efficient use of land that has already been developed including a strong focus on job creation and housing in established urban areas.
- Establish a legal and procedural framework that will create the desired certainty and send the right signals to investors.
- Build a broad-based constituency to combat sprawl that includes businesses, environmentalists, community organizations, farmers, government leaders and others.
The report was distributed in early 1995 to government officials, businesses, public interest groups and others interested in land use issues. It was reviewed favorably in the national and statewide media. We want to know your thoughts on Beyond Sprawl. Email us at environmental.policy@bankamerica.com.
